I am in the process of creating about three different websites. One is dedicated to animé, one is my online portfolio, and one is a secret project that I am not ready to discuss yet. All that is required of me for each of these sites is to create the content. I need to research the topics, write any text that is needed, and provide all the graphics. I will then give this all to my crackerjack Web designer (a.k.a., my husband; hey, it's what he does for a living!) for the design work.

During my search for images I come across all sorts of great sites, but it takes forever for me to download each image that I want to use. How many times can you do a “right-click > Save as” before you start to lose your mind?

Like a good geekette, I knew there had to be a tool out there for me to use that would do all of that for me. It would download all the images from a website and let me filter them out for later use. My wish was granted in the form of ExpressSoft's Express WebPictures.

With Express WebPictures, all a user has to do is specify a page's URL. The application explores it and downloads all its images to a specified folder. Users can also set the program to explore the entire website and retrieve only those images that meet defined specifications.

Here is a list of the Express WebPictures feature set:

Image filtering: you can set the minimum size of image files you want pulled down to skip thumbnails, spacers, interface elements, etc.

Image preview: you can shrink images to fit the preview window or view them full-size.

Built-in image viewer: you can view images in full-screen mode or run the slideshow.

Background setting: you can set any selected picture as your Windows wallpaper.

Galleries: you can build image galleries using the downloaded images via integration with Express Thumbnail Creator, another ExpressSoft application that creates Web galleries.

A “unique and powerful” search engine, according to the website.

Multiple connections: use as many as 10 simultaneous connections for downloading.

No restrictions: you can target all websites, including password-protected ones.

To run Express WebPictures you must meet the following system requirements:

Microsoft Windows 95/98/NT/Me/2000/XP

Pentium processor

32 MB RAM

1 MB free disk space and additional disk space for image downloads

Internet connection

Installing Express WebPictures is a snap. All you have to do is download the .exe file and launch it. Upon completion, the application launches and it's ready to use.

Using Express WebPictures is a dream. It is a very intuitive application, and the developers were smart enough to include a wizard to help first-time users walk through the application. The built-in Help function is quite handy as well.

I was able to run several website downloads at the same time. Then I could view what pictures the application found, and delete them if I didn't want them.

If there is ever a problem with the application, the ExpressSoft website offers a tech support Web form and a newsletter you can subscribe to that has helpful information.

Express WebPictures is going to make the image search for my projects so much easier. I also want to check out the Express Thumbnail Creator to see how well it integrates with WebPictures. I may wind up with a huge Web gallery, given how easy Express WebPictures is to use.

If you are a person who has to work with images on a daily basis, I recommend trying a copy of Express WebPictures to see if it gets the job done for you. It's a tool I recommend to any webmaster, Web developer, or graphics collector.

Express WebPictures is available from the ExpressSoft website, Express-soft.com. There is a 30-day trial period, and the software is US$39.95 to own.

USER COMMENTS 23 comment(s)

First Post ???(11:32am EST Thu May 20 2004)Wonder what would happen if you point it at wallpaper.com– by txhawk